Weekender: for Tammi Brown, folklorico takes center stage and a local Oscar nominee

Hi friends,

As someone who struggles with a sense of doom and boredom every time the time changes in November, I’d like a word with whoever coined “seasonal affective disorder,” just to create the acronym SAD. Of course it’s smart. But you’re not helping anyone. I would call that brazenly stupid disrespect.

Now for the show.

It just happened!

One of America’s greatest and most original folk musicians, Peter Rowanwill headline the Brookdale Bluegrass Festival, featuring more than a dozen other bluegrass bands, for three full days of jamming, March 15-17 in Brookdale Pavilion. The wonderful duo Tuck and Patti will play at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center on Valentine’s Day, February 14, as they have for years. A week earlier, on February 7, also in Kuumbwa, Blue Note Records celebrates its 85th anniversary with a quintet led by the great pianist. Gerald Clayton. The Good Bay Area Rap Artist Lyrics Born made another visit to Moe’s Alley on November 24. And the Rio Theater will host a grand, dazzling tribute to the immortal Bee Gees on April 13.

Don’t forget to check out Lookout’s carefully curated and constantly updated planning guide, Down the line, for the staggering riches and astonishing choices that await the Santa Cruz public. It’s our look at the best shows, gigs and events from the rest of the year at clubs, stages and venues across the county.

B9: What will happen in the coming week?

Here they are, nine necessary knowledge for the week to come. This is B9:

1. The underrated hammer dulcimer goes places you’ve never heard it before with the innovative pan-world sound of House of Waters.
2. Punk rock is the subject of conversations in a animated event including John Malkin of Santa Cruz at the UCSC Institute of Arts and Sciences.
3. If you love Laurel Canyon’s sunny, fragrant sound of vocal harmonies and acoustic melodies, it might be time to check out Mapache.
4. One way or another, it’s fitting that avant-garde psychedelic rock emerges from Amsterdam. We are of course talking about the trippy musicians known as Altin Gun.
5. Playwright Sarah Ruhl puts a new spin on ancient Greek myth with “Eurydice” opening this weekend at UC Santa Cruz.
6. The path to becoming a better human begins here: The Reverend. Shutt Link talks about living the anti-racist life with the Buddhist wisdom of the Eightfold Path.
7. There is a very strong musical DNA that emerges Duane Bettsthe son of the unforgettable Allman Brothers guitar wizard Dickey Betts.
8. I don’t know why we should choose, but the Rio Theater is hosting a face-off between the two most influential bands of all time. Who is your choice, Beatles or Stones?
9. The mission period in California is get a late reassessmentand one new movie which will be screened at Mission Santa Cruz gives the indigenous perspective on this story.

For Tammi

These are truly difficult days for one of Santa Cruz’s most beloved jazz musicians and singers. Earlier this fall, the bright Tammi Brown received a devastating diagnosis of stage 4 lung cancer. The community rushed to his aid with a GoFundMe campaign to help him pay the costs of his treatment.

Now comes news of a large public event to honor Tammi and her contributions to the local music scene. On Sunday, December 17, at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center, Tammi’s friends and collaborators will gather for a show titled “Tonight for Tammi.” This is an absurdly heavy roster of performers, featuring, above all, the legendary jazz bassist. Stanley Jordan, Tammi Brown’s collaborator for many years. Also on the program that evening, there will be the singer James Durbinrock bassist Polo JonesTHE Lauren Monroe Group featuring longtime drummer Def Leppard Rick Allencomposer John wine glass and much more.

Dylan Rose, Tammi’s friend and longtime band member, helps organize the benefit show. He said the event will also highlight one of Tammi’s deepest musical passions, gospel. “We wanted strong gospel, church choir type,” he said. “We will also have the group Harmonizewhich presents many Bobby McFerrinsingers, because Tammi sings a lot with him. And Tanya Fitzgerald and Broken People is another group of singers with whom she works. And Tanya is actually the granddaughter of Ella Fitzgerald.”

And this week, we learn that Tammi will also be named the 2024 Santa Cruz County Artist of the Year, a prestigious honor that recognizes artists of national and/or international reputation who reside in Santa Cruz County.

On top of all that, I’ve known Tammi Brown for years and I don’t know anyone who is more overflowing with love and kindness than her. One of the main reasons why Tammi is so familiar in the Santa Cruz music scene is that she is incapable of saying no to anyone, whether it’s a collaboration or singing for benefit or to someone else’s show. Local show producers and musicians know that Tammi is as reliable as she is talented, always there for her community. And now it’s time for all of us to show up for her.

Folklorico in bloom

Watsonville is currently in the midst of a remarkable cultural renaissance, and November offers a particularly rich example. Sunday, for example, Watsonville Brillante, the astonishing mosaic public art in downtown parking lot adjacent to the Watsonville Public Library, will feature a walking tour of these magnificent works of art. Meet in front of the library at noon for a free bilingual visit.

The following weekend, Pajaro Valley Arts will present a free panel discussion titled “Honoring Our Ancestors,” from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Saturday, November 18, at the PVA Gallery on Sudden Street, downtown.

This same weekend there will be an even bigger event, this one from the famous Watsonville folk dance troupe. Esperance Del Valle. On Saturday November 18 and Sunday November 19, Esperanza will present its last performance, titled “Mexico en el Corazon,” at the Crocker Theater at Cabrillo College. The show “Corazon” is a striking example of cross-cultural collaboration. Esperanza and Cabrillo College partner with the University of Veracruz in Mexico to showcase the folk dances of Veracruz and the Gulf Coast. Currently, dance teachers from Veracruz teach local dancers some of the region’s dances.

What all of these events have in common is a grounding in the past and Mexican heritage as a source of inspiration. And with the Watsonville Center for the Arts — right across the street from the downtown square — offering a variety of courses In dance forms, it is time to take a particularly lively interest in the richness and variety of the Mexican folk tradition.

AI event canceled

I was looking forward to a lecture from the author Joy Buolamwini about his new book, “Unmasking AI,” at UCSC’s Cowell Ranch Hay Barn, but that event was canceled.

Earworm of the week

I am, unashamedly and proudly, a fanboy of Wayne Fountains. You may have heard of them from their 2003 hit “Stacy’s Mom.” But FoW is much more than this titillating ode to adolescent desire. The group began producing wonderfully tuneful little pop gems as early as 1996, thanks to a remarkably congenial collaboration between songwriters Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood. It’s painful to pick just one FoW song over all the others – really, don’t get me started. But since we’re in the middle of football season, this week we’re going with “All Kinds of Time,” a dreamlike homage to that magical moment in the middle of a game when everything clicks into place in the mind of a quarterback, a beautiful order emerges. from chaos and the open man emerges “in a ray of golden light”. Local 49ers fans will definitely think of the incredible story of our very own boy wonder, Brock Purdy. But honestly, you don’t need to know or care about football to appreciate the melodic brilliance and power of the “moment of truth” behind this irresistible song. In 2020, Adam Schlesinger was one of the first personalities affected by the COVID-19 virus. Like many FoW fans, I’m only now moving from mourning what we lost to appreciating what we once had. Long live the fountains of Wayne!

Anecdote about Santa Cruz County

Arianne Phillips, who grew up in Santa Cruz, was nominated for three Academy Awards. What is Arianne’s job in the entertainment industry?

Last week: The namesake of Kresge College at UC Santa Cruz is SS Kresge, a Pennsylvanian who pioneered discount retailing in the early 20th century. Which famous American brand was created by Kresge? He was the K in Kmart, the once-ubiquitous discount store. At its peak, Kmart had nearly 2,500 stores in the United States. By 2022, that number had dropped to three.

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This is all I have, my friends. Come to me with comments, ideas, complaints or thunderous ideas. Thank you to all Lookout members for your trust and support, and please, make known about what we do.